Automatically variable change speed gear device



Aug. 27, 1935. '13 w BERLIN 2,012,652

AUTOMATICALLY VARIABLE CHANGE SPEED GEAR DEVICE Filed Dec. 26, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 27, 1935. 2,012,652

AUTOMATICALLY VARIABLE CHANGE SPEED- GEAR DEVICE D. BERLIN Filed Dec. 26, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 D. w. BERLIN 2,012,652

AUTOMATICALLY VARIABLE CHANGE SPEED GEAR DEVICE Aug. 27, 1935.

Filed Deb. 26, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 points'stated belowi motion.

, mission is desirable.

Patented Aug. 21, 1935 a i AUTOMATICALLY. VARIABLE CHANGE I SPEE -gem DEVICE -DavidWerner Berlin, Rasunda, Sweden 'Application'Decem'ber'26, 1933, Serial No. 704,004 7 InSweden July 5,1933

14 Claims. (o1. 74 -64) This invention relates to an automatically variable change speed gear devieejaccdrding to the centrifugal weight'principle for 'antomobiles' and other similar craft and; for other purposes where an automatically variable power trans-j The many requirements'at;

the present time of an automatic automobile gear are met by this invention, as is clear from the i. The device governs the gearing of the motor power entirely automatically from direct coupling to the" driving moment of torsion necessary to overcome an increased resistance, for instancev when starting or on an upward slope.

2. The gear returns entirely automatically from gearing to direct coupling when the. resistance decreases or ceases.

3, By this device the motor may beaccelerated from any speed to its highest speed.

4. Through this device the automobile may be braked by the motor in every situaticnat' forward 5. This device operates entirely automatically at forward as well as backward motiong' Further, the invention means that the eerie: trifugal weights andthe flywheel masses with the least weight obtain their highest effect; and. thus the material is, not subjected" to'overloa'd. The

centrifugal weights.

The gear according to according to the centrifugal weight principle in the manner that on engagementjthef positive; as

well as the negative impulses of the centrifugal weights separately actuate the driven" shaft] in .the direction of rotation of the sam'e1', An" im, portant feature of the inventioncorisists therein that the positive impulse is transmitted directly to they driven shaft by means of a primary'check. coupling, and the negative impulse bymeans of a primary and a secondary check coupling, Hence it follows as an important. advantage. that the; moment of force in dire'ct'motion is, transmitted; from". the driving shaft. to the driven "shaft by a means of the primary check coupling for the posi j tive impulse, whereas the primary aswellasthe." secondary check coupling for the negative impulse isat'rest. On engagementf the positive'impulsef is transmitted directly by the primary checkcoupling of the same tothe driven shaft while the negative impulse by the primary check coupling of the same is first transmitted to the members;

this invention operates.

which direct the movementin the positive 'direc-V tion, and then by means of the secondary check coupling is transmitted to the driven shaft.

When accelerating the driving shaft the positive impulse is directly transmitted to the driven shaft, while the negative impulseby braking or checking is prevented from actuating the driven shaft during the negative stroke and. instead thereof is utilized to accelerate, the speedof the driving'shaft. J

The braking of the driven shaftf by the driving shaft takes place when the 'driven shaft tends 'to attain a higher speed than the driving shaft since then the shafts areautomatically connecte'dwith each other by a check coupling so that'thedriving shaft acts as a brake on the driven shaft acc0rd'-' j noise producing members are insulated from the surroundings by' a, suitable insulating material, which maybe an organic or inorganic substance orametal.

The invention is illustrated in the accompany ing drawings, in which 3 Fig. 1 is anaxial section 'of an embodiment; Fig. 2 is an axial section of another embodi ment. Figs. 3-8 are. cross sections of the said embodiw. ments. The sections according to Figs. 3-5 are taken along the lines IIIIII, IV-IV, and V- V of Fig. 1 respectively; the sections according to Figs." 6, F! are taken along the lines VI-VI and. VII-VII respectively of Fig QZ, and the section shown in Fig. 8 is taken along the line VIII-VIII of Fig. 1.

Fig.. 9 is part of the apparatus in axial section;

and on a larger scale.

In the embodiments shown, I indicates the driv:

The centrifugal weights'are eccentrically mounted on the sleeve 5; The eccentricsthemselvesare indicated by 6. During operationthe shaft s, during the positive stroke of the centrifugal weights, actuateddireotly by the sleeve 5 soas to? rotate in the direction of rotation by means of the check coupling 8. The sh aft 'l'is actuated: so as to rotate in the direction of rotation the. sleeve '5, during'the negativestroke of the centrifugal weights, through a primary check coupling I!) connected to a central conical toothed wheel 9, or another member transrm'tting the motion, of a transmission 9, ll, 12, in which'the transmission member l2 by a secondary check coupling I 3 actuates the driven shaft in the direction of rotation. The transmission members 9,

H, and 12, which, when operating, transmit the negativev impulse, fromv the centrifugal weights. 3

through the sleeve 5; are free'at direct coupling, and do not then participate in the rotatory motion.

All the check couplings 8, l0, and i3 are in the: embodiment according to Fig-1 single acting, with. the check rolls p errnanently'let in. between the hooks 8a, lfla, Ltd, and spring-actuated as shown in Figs. 4, 5, i. e. the couplings cannot-be reversed so as to act checking in the direction opposite to that for which they are adapted as showninthe said Figures 4 and 5 The primary central conical toothed wheel or member 9 is provided with a: flywheelmass l4; AsshowninFig. 1 2) thetoothed whe'el'sor members f'may be loaded by means v changes of the impulses from the centrifugal weights. The shaft l is connected with the shaft l! by means of alcckabl'etoothed' coupling. The interior endlportion of the s'haftfi' is tubular, and the tube wall hasa number of teeth H), which cooperate withteeth 19 on a sleeve 28 (Fig. 8). This. sleeve is s'lidable; but not rotatable on the shaft 7, and i'tslteeth, fill may be. brought in and out of engagement with the teeth .18 by thesl'eeve 2Ebeing moved along the shaft by means of a common control gable, the legs visibleinFig.l. I

Further the apparatus hasa'reverse gear,v which. in the drawings is illustrated diagrammatically H of which are by a toothed wheel '23 rigidly connectedto the sleeve 20, a pinion2'3, and a toothed'ring E fin a drumlike elongation of theinterior end. of the shaft IT; 'The'pinion 23 is mounted on a shaftflfi rigidly located in the casing. 20. The reversegear here described is adapted toalternate with the coupling l8, l9, inorder toreverse the direction offmot'ion of. the shaft il; therebyobtaining all the power transmission possibilities of theauto matic'gearalso at reverse run. t

If the check couplings are double acting, as described in connection with the following*em-' bodiment, the shaft H is omitted, and the direction of motion is reversed by the check couplings,"

and thus thereverse gear is unnecessary. For

practical reasons, however, it is in certain cases advantageous'l to use single acting. check couplings and reverse gear since thewh'ole mechanism becomessimpler and more reliable. t

The automatically variable change speed gear J device in'it's whole operates 'asffbllowsr The" driv-J tion bylthe, source of power.

the motion in the direction of rotation or alterthe member 2. The driving and the driven shafts are in this case automatically directly coupled.

If now' the moment of resistance on the driven shaft 1 is increased so that the said moment becomes higher than the centrifugal moments on the eccentrics 6 the centrifugal Weights 8 begin to-turn over the center of the eccentrics 3, and the sleeve 5 and the driven shaft 1 decrease their speed relatively to the driving shaft i. During their wayupward toward the highest point of the eccentrics the centrifugal weights now endeavour-to entrain the sleeve 5 and the shaft 7 the. direction 'of rotation during a certain period of the half stroke. During the opposite part-of the stroke, when the centrifugal weights slide downward from the highest point of the eccentrics; the centrifugal weights endeavour to actuate the eccentrics to rotate in the opposite direction so that the. sleeve "5 rotates opposite to the direction of rotation. Whennow the sleeve 5 rotates opposite to the direction of rotation the sleeve is locked. at the central conical. toothed wheel 9 by means of the secondary check coupling l0. Thetoothedwheel 9' now actuates the intermediate toothed Wheels II to rotate, and the latter in their turn actuate the secondary central toothed wheel 12 so that the same ro-- tat'es in the same directionas the driving shaft; by this the toothed wheel. i2 is locked with the driven shaft 1 by means of the check coupling I 3, and actuatesthe same to rotate in the direction of rotation, during the negative stroke of the centrifugal weights '3. The reciprocating move ment, which the centrifugal weights impart to the sleeve 5, increases or decreases according as the. moment of resistance on the driven shaft decreases or increases. ,In the said way the auto matic gearing is'obtai'ned. ,When the moment of resistance on the driven shaft decreases again .to a certainwalue the sleeve 5 begins to rotate with the centrifugal'weights 3 and entrains the shaft Tby means of the check coupling 8, i. e. the shafts. l. and! are directly coupled. Now the'check couplings l0 and I3 are free; hence it follows that the central toothed wheels 9 and l2'as well as the intermediate wheels H in no waylparticipate. in the. rotary motion, but are at rest- In order, when gearing, to hold the toothed wheels 9, I I, and I2, which transmit the negative stroke to positive moment .on the driven shaftpi'n ajuniform motion andv equal mesh, the toothed wheel 9! is provided withthe flywheel mass l4. The object'of the flywheel mass IS, on the other hand, is to balance springings in the shaft ,T,which arise .at the end of each impulse from the centrifugal weights. By means of the springs l6 free motion and shocks between theteeth are prevented." As is clear from the drawings the intermediatewheels H are directly mounted in the. casing 20 (the frame). By alternatively mounting the wheels ll slidably axially,

as. already mentioned, they center'themselves automatically in relation to the intermediate position between the toothedwheels 9 and I2.

Theembodiment shown in Fig.l2 deviates from the one, already described among, other things, by the provision of afbrake or checkingdevice, by means of 'which'one of the transmission wheels 9,, or l2, for instance theiwheel l2, as shown in the drawingamay be locked by means of ,a brake band 28 so thatinstead of actuating the driven shaft the negative impulse actuates the drivingshaft for accelerating, thespeed of the samep As shown in; the drawings, the brake surface of-thewheel 9, may be provided on the centrifugal; mass 14. The; brake. band 28 is with one end fixed instationary,projectionsZBa on the inside of the drum 2!), The other end is fixed in a rod 281: at some distance fromthe turning bolt 280 of the rod.- For the rod there is ,a slot 128d in the wall ,o f the drum, the wall, being in the drawings shown curved, in front of the rod.-

' Further this embodiment deviates from the one according to Fig. 1 by the provisionof asingle actingcheck coupling, forinstance withcheck rollers 29 between the driving shaft;l ;and;the driven shaft '1, see also Fig. 6, by means of which the driven shaft is coupled with the driving shaft whenthe speed of the first-mentionedshaft endeavours to obtain a higher speed than the latter. Thus it becomes possible to brakethe driven shaftby the motor-in a known way. Finally this embodiment is providedgwith material for insulating thenoise producing members from the surrou ding members of the apparatus.

. This insulatingmateriaLwhich maybe an or: ganic substance or ametal, such as lead, is shown in the drawings disposed between the casing 33 and the shaft bearings .30, 3|, and 32, and is indicated by 33. 3 w H r I I The check couplings 8, l0, and respectively, which are provided with checkrollers,;may be single U acting, as already described, or double acting. An embodimentwith double acting checking devices 8, l0, and: I3 is shown in Figs. 7 and 9. By reversing the rollers by means of the roller holders 34, 35 from the outermost position shown with full lines to the. opposite position shown with dotted lines thedirection of rotation of the driven shaft is evidently reversed. The same purpose maybe obtained by making the checking devices 8 and I3 double acting, and thechecking device lfl single acting.

For turning theroller holders from one outerniostposition tothe other in double acting checking 'devices ll, l 3,.the device shown in Fig; 9 may be used. The rollers in-the two couplings are provided at the same radial distance from the shaft. 1. The two roller holders; 34, 36 are connected mutually by members 31 and by a cam,

groove sleeve 38,.which is rotatably located on the shaft 7. The grooves 39 of the sleeve, which are-oblique or helicahas shown with the dashed;

linesat the underside of -the shaft, are engaged by pins 40, which are secured. in a ring 42. The said ring is by means of rods,' 43; ,whichextend through the flywheel; mass 1,5, connected with a member 44, whichm'ay be sliddenon theshaft by means: of a rod 45,'Whl0h by a gable 4Sv grips the member., The roller holders 34, 33, the sleeve 38, the, rods 43; and the member rotate synchronously with the shaft a 3 When displacing themember 44 bymeans of the; rod 45, which, is rotatable. aboutsan axlespindle 81,, the sleeve38 is rotated by the. action ofthe, pinsJlO, whereby the zroller holders are reversed. In order to give'the pins and the ring the. necessary. rectilinear guidance there .are

axial grooves 50 on the shaft 1.

., As to possible variations inthe construction of the described apparatus it may be mentioned that instead of the toothed wheels 9, II, and 12, friction disks or disks having roller paths adapted p for. transmitting the motion may be used.

Having now described my invention, what, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentis: @'1

1. In an automatically variable change speed gear device a driving .shaft, a driven shaft, said driving shaft-being provided with centrifugal weightsactuating the, driven shaft by positive and negative impulses, said device being provided with aprimary check coupling forjtransmitting the positive'impulse to the driven shaft, and another primary and a secondary coupling forseparately transforming the negative impulse into a-positive' impulse'and for transmittinggsaid negative impulse to the driven shaft the first mentioned check coupling being arranged to transmit power from the driving shaft to the driven shaft by direct coupling thereby setting the other-two, couplings out of function. I

2. In an automatically variable change speed gear device a driving shaft, a driven shaft, said driving, shaft being provided. with centrifugal weights actuating the driven' -shaft by positive and negative impulses, said device being .provided with a primary check coupling for trans initting the positive impulse to the driven shaft, and another primary ,and a second ary coupling and gearing to transform the fnegative impulse into a positive impulse and transmit said negative impulse to the driven shaft the first mentioned-check coupling. being arranged totrans mit power from the driving shaft to the-driven shaft at direct coupling thereby setting the other two couplings out of ,functionthe last mentioned twocheck couplings including motion transmit ting members for transformingthe negative impulses into positive impulse.

I 3. Inanautorhatically variable change speed gear device a driving shaft, a driven shaft said driving shaft being provided with centrifugal Weights actuatingthe driven shaft by positive and negative impulses, said device being provided. with a primarylcheck coupling for transr'nitting the-positive impulse to the driven shaft,

and anotherprimary and a secondarycoupling for transforming" the negative impulse into a positive impulse and for transmitting said trans I I 4. In'an automatically variable change speed gear device a driving shaft, a driven shaft,;said driving shaft being provided with centrifugal Weights actuating'the driven shaft by positive and negative impulses, said device'being provided with a check coupling between thedriving and the driven shaft separately transforming: the negative. impulse into .a. positive: impulsecand transmitting the primary impulse to the driven shaft, and connected to a gear by means of a formed negative impulse as a positive impulse to: the driven shaft, said second check coupling being single acting and said third check coupling being double acting.

13. The device as claimed in claim 12 wherein the primary check coupling for transmitting the positive impulses and the secondary check coupling being adapted to be operated in common when reversing the direction of motion, while simultaneously the primary check coupling for transmitting the negative impulses is locked in order that the negativeimpulses may be transmitted to the driving shaft.

14. An automatically variable change speed device comprising a drive shaft, a driven shaft and means for transmitting motion from the one to the other including an eccentric sleeve rotatably mounted on the driven shaft, means for imparting a to andfro motion to said eccentric sleeve, a primary coupling for transmitting one of said motions as a rotary motion to the driven shaft and a second coupling and gearing for transmitting the other of said motions'to' the a DAVID WERNER BERLIN. 

